There has been a concerted effort by those on the right to infringe on the privacy of women and their doctors. At TPC, we’ve posted a number of pieces on this state and that state jumping on the “chipping away at abortion rights” bandwagon, a very disturbing trend, one that seems worse now than ever. In fact, the L.A. Times calls it an “unprecedented attack on reproductive rights.”

The Times uses that phrase in an excellent editorial that crystallizes the assault on the right to choose, one that I recommend you read. A few excerpts:

Imagine you decided to have a medical procedure but state law said that, even though your doctor supported your decision, you had to be screened to see if you were mentally fit for it, and then had to go to a clinic that directly opposes doing the procedure and listen to its spiel before you could go ahead. Most of us would call that unconscionable interference in our ability to make decisions about our own health.

Now imagine you’re a pregnant woman in South Dakota. [...]

The South Dakota law is among 371 pieces of legislation that have been making headway in state capitals during the last few months… seeking to restrict and in some cases all but remove women’s access to abortions, according to the National Abortion Rights Action League. Not only is that more than twice as many antiabortion bills as last year, but, like the South Dakota law, many of the appalling bills are making swifter and surer progress toward passage. [...]

At the federal level, the House is likely to pass two bills to restrict abortion rights.

So the very people who stomp their foot and demand smaller government are the ones who insist on intruding on women, their doctors, and their health care decisions. Business as usual.

[T]his matter was settled by the 1973 Roe decision, which held that attempts to limit a woman’s right to an abortion during early pregnancy were unconstitutional infringements on her right to privacy, just as they would be for any other medical procedure. [...]

Polls show that most Americans continue to support the Roe decision…  Studies and data show that the best way to reduce the number of abortions is with high-quality sex education and access to birth control. That’s not included in any of these state proposals.

Abortions are legal. Le. Gal. Legal. However, by making them inaccessible, the pro-forced-birth proponents are getting around the law, the very law that is in effect, the very law that Americans should follow, the very law that so-called law-and-order-small-government-zealots are flouting.

Read those last two sentences of the article one more time. Conservatives openly disdain all education, not just sex ed, and express that disdain by defunding it, busting unions, and pushing a voucher system. After all, if Americans are informed, they can make decisions and cast votes that would likely contradict candidates and their right wing talking points and policies. And that would never do.

You can read the entire editorial here.